''Hylarana'', commonly known as golden-backed frogs, is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

true frog True frogs is the common name for the frog family Ranidae. They have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. The true frogs are present in North Am ...

s found in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. It was formerly considered highly diverse, containing around 84 to 96 valid

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

, but taxonomic revision resulted in a major change in the contents of the genus, and today it is recognised as containing just four species.

Description

''Hylarana'' are small to large-sized frogs. Males have an average snout-vent length of , while females range from . The nares (nostrils) are oval in shape and covered by a flap of skin. The tympanum is visible but is not covered by a supratympanic fold.

Vomerine teeth The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxil ...

and a pineal ocellus (parietal eye) are present. The toes are webbed, but the fingers are not.

Distribution

Former members of the genus ''Hylarana'' ranged from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

to the Western Ghats of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, through

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

and southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

, down to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, in

Northern Australia The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Queensland that lie p ...

, and tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Following taxonomic revisions, the genus is actually restricted to Southern and

southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Asia.

Taxonomy

''Hylarana'' belongs to the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

Raninae True frogs is the common name for the frog family Ranidae. They have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. The true frogs are present in North Am ...

of the true frog

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Ranidae. The generic name ''Hylarana'' derives from

New Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

('wood' or 'forest') and ('frog'). ''Hylarana'' was previously considered to be a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between ...

of the genus ''

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a historica ...

''. It was recognized as a distinct genus in 2005. Several genera were further split from ''Hylarana'' in 2006, and then treated again as

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...

s of ''Hylarana''. In 2015, Oliver et al. performed a major taxonomic re-assessment of ''Hylarana''. Their taxonomic reassessment left just four of the former 80–100 species within the genus ''Hylarana

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

''. The rest were transferred to ''

Abavorana ''Abavorana'' is a genus of true frogs found in Southeast Asia, namely the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. Species in this genus were formerly classified in the genus ''Hylarana ''Hylarana'', commonly known as golden-backed frogs, is a g ...

Amnirana ''Amnirana'' is a genus of frogs in the family Ranidae, "true frogs". The genus is primarily found in Sub-Saharan Africa, but one species occurs in parts of southern and southeastern Asia. Some of the African species are widespread but contain un ...

, Chalcorana,

Humerana ''Humerana'' is a genus of frogs in the family Ranidae from southern and southeastern Asia. It was originally proposed as a subgenus of ''Rana''. It may belong to '' Hylarana''. ''Humerana'' contains the following species: * ''Humerana humerali ...

, Hydrophylax, Indosylvirana,

Papurana ''Papurana'' is a genus of frogs in the family Ranidae, "true frogs". They are known from Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and northern Australia. ''Papurana daemeli'' is the only Ranidae, ranid frog found in Australia. Taxonomy ''Papurana'' was orig ...

Pulchrana ''Pulchrana'' is a genus of ranid frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest ...

'', and ''

Sylvirana ''Sylvirana'' is a genus of true frogs, family Ranidae, found in South and East Asia, from northeastern India in west to China in the north, Taiwan in the east, and Thailand in the south. Originally proposed as a subgenus of '' Rana'' in 1992, ...

''.

Species

Formerly, the genus consisted of around 84 to 96 valid species. Following a major re-classification, only four species are now recognised in the genus ''Hylarana'': *'' Hylarana erythraea'' (Schlegel, 1837) - common green frog, green paddy frog, leaf frog, or red-eared frog *''

Hylarana macrodactyla ''Hylarana macrodactyla'' is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is also known as the Guangdong frog, three-striped grass frog and the marbled slender frog. It is found in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, ...

'' Günther, 1858 - Guangdong frog, three-striped grass frog, or marbled slender frog *'' Hylarana taipehensis'' (Van Denburgh, 1909) - two-striped grass frog *'' Hylarana tytleri'' Theobald, 1868 Following this revision, the genus assignment of several ''Hylarana'' species is now uncertain: *'' "Hylarana" chitwanensis'' (Das, 1998) *'' "Hylarana" garoensis'' (Boulenger, 1920) *'' "Hylarana" latouchii'' (Boulenger, 1899) *'' "Hylarana" margariana'' Anderson, 1879 *'' "Hylarana" montivaga'' (Smith, 1921) *'' "Hylarana" persimilis'' (Van Kampen, 1923)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1998042 Amphibian genera Amphibians of Asia True frogs Taxa named by Johann Jakob von Tschudi

Description

Distribution

Taxonomy

Species

See also

References